Family Time
by ReaderGeek471579
Summary: Set in Season 2. It's a quick little roadhouse story that popped into my head on a re-watch. I couldn't shake it so I decided to share. Hope you like it … either way, be nice.


**Family Time**

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just a quick little one shot on a re-watch of Season 2 that wouldn't go away._

_I was always a Dean/Jo shipper but read this however you want. I miss the Harvell women and the Roadhouse crew so much! Reviews are welcome but hate is not._

* * *

Dean had thought it first.

Sam had said it first.

They'd limped out of some random crap hole after killing - he didn't even remember what- and it just slipped out. "Can we go home now?"

"Yeah, Sammy." Dean said, instantly knowing where his brother meant.

They had tried to stay away so as to not draw the monsters home but it never really worked. They always went home eventually. Dean supposed that he and Sam were rare among hunters in that they had a home to go to.

Sam crawled into the car and pulled out his cellphone. By the time Dean folded himself into the drivers seat and slipped the Impala's key into the ignition, Sam was slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"Ellen'll have our rooms ready. Jo just finished a hunt so she'll probably only beat us home by an hour to a couple of minutes." Sam said as the Impala roared to life.

* * *

The next morning Ellen came down to a sight that warmed her heart. Dean and Jo were sitting at the bar digging into a plate of bacon and eggs. Sam was just coming out of the kitchen with two more plates. They hadn't seen her yet so she stopped to watch as Sam put the spare plate on her favorite spot on the serving side of the bar and took his plate to the seat on Jo's other side and dug in. Ellen smiled as Ash came out with another plate and left an empty bar stool between him and Sam.

This was right. Her family was safe, and they were home.

That was when Dean looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. Of course they knew she was there; her kids were good at the job. She smiled at Dean and passed through the bar area briefly, pausing briefly to squeeze Sam's shoulder as she slipped into the kitchen to grab a carton of milk and making sure the stove was off. It was, it must've been Dean or Jo who'd cooked. She loved them but Ash was a terror in the kitchen and Sammy couldn't cook if his life depended on it.

Not that he ever had to. Dean secretly loved cooking whenever he was around a halfway decent kitchen. Of course, that meant that Ellen would always give her boy free reign in The Roadhouse's kitchen whenever he wanted. The hunters who stopped by the Roadhouse always ate better when Dean manned the kitchen and it made him happy and Sammy surprisingly great behind the bar. 'Course she'd had to break up a few fights when someone outside the family had tried calling him 'Sammy.' That was a name for family only.

When she came out into the bar area proper with the carton of milk, someone (she figured that it was probably Ash or Dean) had dragged a free stool around to the serving side for her instead of pushing up the rickety wooden one that Jo'd perched herself on for most of her childhood. Meanwhile, Sam was escorting a hung over hunter out the front door. "Go sleep the rest of it off in your truck. If I ever catch you trying to pick this lock again, I can promise that it'll be the last thing you ever do. We'll be open in an hour or two."

The hunter - Frank, Ellen thought his name was - attempted to argue as Sam all but lifted him off the ground and threw him out the door. "I saw movement! I figured you were open for breakfast."

"Sorry!" Ellen yelled across the bar as she poured milk into five glasses. At least it was only one hunter. That could've been bad. "Breakfast is family only!"

She wasn't entirely sure that the hunter had even heard - and was even less sure if it mattered - as Sam was now locking the door behind the hungover hunter. She looked down to Jo and asked, "Did the boys at least let you or Ash answer the door? Don't wanna give the poor man a heart attack. It'd be bad for business."

Jo smiled that wicked smile that Ellen was so hesitant to admit remind her of herself at that age. Jo didn't have to say anything as Dean's hand curled around her free one. Ellen groaned and pushed milk glasses toward Jo and her three boys as she pictured Sammy's massive form looming on the other side of the door as the unfortunate hunter pushed it open.

"You guys wanna talk about it?" Ellen asked as she sat down and dug in just as Ash booted up a security feed on the laptop between him and Sam.

To that Dean said "Nah" around a mouth full of eggs and Sam spoke as he settled back onto the stool, "It wasn't really that bad. Just a family killer."

Oh that explained it. They needed some family time. Jo and Ash realized the significance at the same time.

Jo put her fork down and leaned a little more into Dean as she took Sam's hand and squeezed it. Ash put a hand on Sam's shoulder and spoke over him and Jo to Dean. "That sucks man. You make it suffer?"

Sam grinned at the memory of the bloody mess of the monster they'd left behind as Dean spoke without letting go of Jo's hand. "Oh yeah. Left nothing but roadkill."

"Do I need to call Bobby over?" Ellen asked even though she already knew the answer as well as how this was gonna end before she asked it.

"Nah," Dean said right on cue still holding tightly to Jo's hand as if it was the only thing grounding him at the moment. Sam not much better for his grip on his honorary little sister's other hand. "Shouldn't take him away from the phones. Some hunters might need back up."

Ellen just looked toward Ash who nodded, taking out his cell phone as he spoke, "We'll set up that back room that we sound proofed last year. It's already set up with enough phone lines and it's only one door down from mine if he needs research help."

When Sam just smiled and Dean didn't even bother arguing Ellen knew. Her boys definitely needed some serious family time.


End file.
